Tesco £7 TexMex meal deal isn't possible as a deal?!

[TesNo]

Obviously, very much a first world problem so, before people start, I have MUCH bigger things going on - which is probably why this has irked me so much. Partially extremely pissed off because it means I've had to deal with the fact that DH is now somehow utterly lost and needs to be handhold like a 4yo (not the topic of this thread).

So, I'm exhausted, DH has gone to Tesco for a ready meal. I suggested the TexMex £7 meal deal because I thought it looked ok when I was in there.

He's just phoned so say the deal isn't possible: if it's for a main, a side and a dip. But there are no "dips". I thought "maybe the shop is out" - but I looked online, no dips anywhere. I looked on the Tesco website and their social media promos, everywhere (like here - www.facebook.com/danswaygifts/posts/new-7-tex-mex-feast-meal-deal-at-tesco-choose-from-1-main-side-and-dip/1124785196356454/). No dips!

To be clear, there is a dips tray but that's not a "dip" for the purpose of the deal, it's a "side" (this - https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/321539235 - it says "side" on the front in the green star).

I resent paying £7 for "a main, a side and a dip" when they haven't actually produced any dips.

Am I losing my mind? How does something go through all the layers that Tesco must have and not one person notice this monumental cock up?

Yes, and he did think that except that the dips were labelled as a "side" and the TexMex deal is immediately next to and the same price as the Pizza deal and the dips for the pizza deal were smaller, single dips and labelled "dip", not "side". He assumed they'd simply forgotten to put the dips out on the shelves

this. He sounds like a complete drip.

"DH was trying to buy in store and didn't want to take an incorrect deal up to buy just to return it to the shelves."

Why not? It's hardly a task of herculaneun proportions, and he didn't even HAVE to return it, just tell the cashier he didn't want it anymore if the deal didn't work and leave it there.

Can't bring it to a till to check, can't go and just ask a staff member, can't take a punt on the likelihood that a tray of dips constitute 'the dip' element of a meal deal, can't choose an alternative meal deal instead, can't make enchiladas without supervision - do you brush his teeth for him as well OP?

It's his fault for assuming then. There are multiple ways he could have checked.

I had sort of this situation in a Waitrose where the labelling for what was in the deal wasn’t clear. Nearby staff member also didn’t know.

I just scanned the items at a self service till - I paid because the deal worked but if it hadn’t I would have put the stuff back. Took about two minutes.

Your partner had a lot of options before getting to the hand making enchiladas stage.

And he thought the best solution in that situation was to call his wife who isn’t in the store so would have even less of an idea than he had?

The problem is your DH. In the time it took to phone and ask he’d have been through a till. I couldn’t cope with this level of parenting my husband

He's just come in and announced that he's accidentally shrunk my water bottle by putting it through the dishwasher.

I have a husband who went to the shops, bought food, cooked dinner, ran the dishwasher, walked the dogs and I'm still pissed off...

I know you weren't there. Which is why I said you could have checked while he was on the phone .. At the time of writing that I didn't know you didn't have an online account .

He sounds useless.

Also it would give me the ick, a guy who wouldn't just think "deal or no deal, I'm going to get her that tex mex meal she wanted" and pay the extra three quid

Weaponised incompetence. Deliberately doing things so badly you'll decide it's not worth the hassle and just do everything yourself. Don't fall for it.

This reminds me of COVID times when they only allowed one person from a group in supermarkets and they were all cluttered up with useless men needing to be spoon-fed buying groceries by their female partners.

But your adult husband was. He didn’t think to ask anyone?!

You didn't answer the key question about why he didn't ask a member of staff. Why was he calling you to problem-solve? Like you say, it's like a 4yo having the assumption that mummy must answer everything. If he learns to do things all by himself then his confidence will grow, it warrants a clear chat.

If I'd told my DH I wanted the Tex Mex deal he'd have got it for me and if necessary just paid the couple of quid extra and not even mentioned it to me. Your DH sounds hard work.

Does your husband manage to preform basic every day tasks for himself? Do you enjoy him having the capabilities of a 7 year old?

if he thought the dip was a side, he thought there was a possible combination of main + dips + dip?!

this is a weird outcome of paying too much attention to detail in an irrelevant manner. I think most people would have picked up a main a side and the dips, gone on their merry way with the meal deal and not even noticed that the dips said “side”.

i laughed when you said he was German. This is the sort of thing my German friend would do. “No, it says X, therefore Y is not possible” and refuse to check with anyone or entertain the possibility that it was just poorly communicated. She once waited for an hour in what I thought was clearly the wrong place for an appointment because the online info she found said that’s where she should wait - didn’t ask anyone there, didn’t think it could have changed and the website not updated, nope, it said this therefore it must be true and correct.

fwiw if I were you I would have said oh it’s fine just get the dip tray and the main and side, doesn’t matter if it’s dearer or if you prefer get the pizza deal.

That’s the thing - the dip is a side. There is a combination of main, dip and dip. Your response as if that’s so absurd is what made him think it couldn’t be correct - it’s exactly the response that he and I both had. Who on earth is buying the deal as a main, dips and dips?! That’s why is makes no sense!

Yeah, it’s a very German mentality to not check. In Germany, if the doctors letter says to wait in one place then you go there and wait. If you ask someone “oh, is this the correct place?”, they’d think you were nuts. Why are you checking something when you’ve already been explicitly told the answer? The double-checking happens when the person gives the instructions, not the person receiving them.

I don't think you can blame this on being German. He sounds utterly pathetic. Does he manage to hold down a job? Where presumably he has to use his initiative?!

yes, but you both had the opposite reaction to me - I would have thought main + dips + dip is so ridiculous that this label must be wrong and its main function is as the “dip” bit if the deal, not the side. I think I would have got to the “label incorrect” conclusion straight away!
I bet the deal is actually set up as main plus two sides. You could probably scan two non-dip sides and still get the deal. It’s just poorly communicated…and yet I suspect your husband is probably the only person to ever have this problem because he’s paying too much attention to labels.

but yes totally on the doctors surgery thing - that’s the sort of thing I mean! It really is a different mentality.

I agree @queenmeadhbh - it's quite obvious what you're supposed to pick when you look at the selection but there's always scope for the deal not to work for all sorts of reasons so I would always check because I don't want to be paying the artificially high full prices that are only there to make it look a better deal than it really is.

Likewise in the doctor's example. Perhaps in Germany, instructions, labelling, doctor's letters are always correct and it's not necessary to check, but certainly in the UK, mistakes, misinformation and deliberate deception is quite common, so if you float through life taking everything at face value, you'll waste loads of time and money when things are not as they are presented to you.

Yeah, it’s a very German mentality to not check. In Germany, if the doctors letter says to wait in one place then you go there and wait. If you ask someone “oh, is this the correct place?”, they’d think you were nuts. Why are you checking something when you’ve already been explicitly told the answer? The double-checking happens when the person gives the instructions, not the person receiving them.

But if he was asked to go somewhere he couldn’t physically go, he’d check. And he did check, but he felt you were better placed to answer it? That doesn’t sound very efficient.

From your last post, it seems you are married to a manchild who you indulge by answering his questions rather than saying “how would I know, go ask someone in store” and hanging up the phone. If he melted your water bottle, tell him so and that he needs to buy you a new one.

Obviously, very much a first world problem so, before people start, I have MUCH bigger things going on

It's such a shame that posters feel they need to preface relatively minor annoyances, concerns etc to avoid people piling on with a "think yourself lucky that this is your only concern".

Sometimes it's about beating the system, which many of us believe they make deliberately confusing or misleading e.g putting non meal deal items among the deal ones.

Even though they're not labelled as part of the deal, they know customers will throw them in their basket believing they are, and hopefully not notice because they're in a hurry at the till and a couple of quid might slip past.

Tesco have 2 tiers of lunch meal deal to add to the confusion.

I once took a larger fruit pot thinking it was a snack, when in fact it was a main. I realised at the till because I was only getting a few things. I then queued up at customer services, made the exchange, got some money back. I had time to do that then, many people won't bother. I wasn't paying 2 quid for some pineapple!

Here’s the problem though…

If you don’t say you have other things then every response is “you’re so lucky that you have no real problems in your life”

If you do say you’re going through hell at the moment, posters go “ooh, goody, someone I can really kick in the ribs and know it’ll hurt” and go for blood.

You can’t win.

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. It's so tedious and people think they're so smart catching you out.
Anyway, it's a whole other thread.

[laugh emoji]

I think it's the heat...you're getting a bit wound up BY EVERYTHING!